visiting thelace where homer lived and worked is john wilmerding, deputy director of the national gallery of art. homer's studio was a remodeled stable set about 200 yards from a large summerhouse thatis older brother bought in 1883. although homer was close to his family, he enjoyed the solitude his studio provided, but most of all, it was the ocean outside which reall made this place so important to him. the love of nature was very much a part of homer's time. his family joined the growing number of americans in the late 19th century who could afford to escape the city heat and spend summers at the shore. homer's relatives on both sides had been engaged in shipping and trading for generations. his father, charles savage homer, carried on an import business. his mother, henrietta benson homer, was a watercolorist whose flower pictures were occasionally shown in professional exhibitions. winslow was born in boston in 1836. at the age of 21, after two years of drudgery apprenticeto a commercial lithographer, he vowed he would never have another master and set up his studio at 22 winter str